Fortuitous
by My Soliloquy
Summary: Hayner stumbles across something he shouldn't, panics, and begins to pay for his idiocy, one karmic point at a time.
1. It begins

**A/N** at bottom.

Disclaimer: **Disclaimed.**

Summary: Hayner stumbles across something he shouldn't, panics, and begins to pay for his idiocy, one karmic point at a time.

Warnings for chapter: Language, the gay, swears, one-sided Seifer/Hayner

Rating: T

Chapter: 1 / ?

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Hayner paced The Usual Spot almost frantically, hands reaching up and gently tugging on his hair every second or so, looking incredibly frantic.

Roxas, Hayner's long time best friend and partner in mischief making, eyed the other blond with barely veiled suspicion in his eyes. He noted almost subconsciously Hayner's hair-tugging, the habit long formed and only used when Hayner was exceedingly aggravated. And there were only two times Hayner was 'exceedingly' aggravated. Either: a, his parents were fighting again or b, Seifer had been annoying him again. And since his parents had been divorced for two years, there wasn't much confusion.

"Seifer?" The slightly smaller blond drawled from his comfortable perch on the ratty old couch, his eyes still following his pacing counterpart. _There_, he frowned, picking up on the slight hesitation in the other's pacing. Since Hayner couldn't multitask, this was him thinking of a 'lie'. Now, Hayner hated lying, but was firm in his belief that you could bend the truth and no one would suffer for it.

"He insulted my mother," he snarled, and Roxas' eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. 'Insulted' and 'mother' were words Hayner only used when he had priorly thought about what he was going to say, something uncommon for the dirty blond. Definitely bending the truth; maybe Seifer had insulted his mother, but that wasn't all that was annoying him. He had no solid proof, though, so instead he replied,

"And you let him get to you." He paused slightly in his thoughts, before adding, "Which is stupid, 'cause if, say, Rai had done that you'd just tell him to fuck off." There was another stall in his pacing, more noticeable this time, and when it was over the pacing speed doubled. There was most certainly going to be a hole worn into the floor at this rate.

"That's because he's fuckin' aggravatin' me," the 'G's had begun to disappear, and his words were more of a growl. Roxas scowled. _Now_ Hayner was lying - he was always a very obvious liar. One of the reasons he chose to bend the truth.

"Uh huhn," Roxas grunted in affirmation, but in such a way that you could tell he was being sarcastic. Roxas liked his sarcasm and perfected it to a degree that even the most thickheaded of idiots could understand he wasn't being serious. Hayner was, unfortunately, one of the people he had to perfect his sarcasm for.

"He is!" The blond was getting defensive now, very much so. His voice had jumped up an octave and the hands that had previously being tugging at his hair flew upright, waving slightly in the air. A teeny tiny smirk wormed its way onto Roxas' face. He had him now.

"You're hiding something, Hay," cue third pause in pacing, slight stumble and- Yep, definitely hiding something, something he was hoping no one would find out about. The now-not-pacing blond shot him a look of badly-hidden anxiety, one cheek hollowed slightly. He was biting on the inside of it. Roxas, thoroughly unimpressed with his friend keeping things from him, folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to seem much bigger than he actually was, telling Hayner that he wasn't going to leave this until he found out what, exactly, was being hidden.

Hayner was never very good at hiding things from him, especially things that bothered him this much, and he caved in about three seconds before blurting, "Seifer's gay!" Had Roxas been drinking at this point, he would probably have spat his drink out in a comical scene and coughed continuously for about three minutes. As it was, Roxas was not drinking, so instead his jaw dropped and eyes bulged slightly.

Seifer was gay?

Seifer was _gay_?

_Seifer_ was gay!

"Holy shit," was all that Roxas could manage at this point, completely taken by surprise by this. A little voice in the back of his head said that this should have been pretty obvious, belly-top and all, but something about Seifer, the masculine asshat that reeked of manliness _Seifer_, being gay just broke his brain slightly. Still, the fact that their arch-nemesis was gay didn't warrant pacing frantically in The Usual Spot, irritated and worried. A tiny suspicion wormed its way into Roxas' head. "Hayner?" The other, who had somehow migrated to one of the crates when Roxas' brain was breaking, jerked his head to look at him.

"Mnghp," he grunted, probably attempting to say something but his words muffled by the fact his mouth had two obstacles in it's way - Hayner's hands. Roxas' bottom teeth scraped against his top lip for a second before deciding to be blunt.

"Are you a homophobe?" Hayner looked at Roxas for a second, looking torn between being affronted and offended before it faded into irritation and anger.

"No! I'm not-" He paused, connecting the dots that Roxas had connected, shaking his head dramatically, "Hell no! It's not that Rox, it's- it's-" Roxas watched in confusion as Hayner slowly turned pink, mouth moving up and down like a fish, no words coming out. Finally, _finally_, the other managed to squeak out, "He likes me." Roxas scoffed at the obviously stupid thing to say, because, gay or not, Seifer wasn't just about to become friends with Hayner f- A small, dim bulb flickered above Roxas' head and, for the second time in as many minutes, the boy's jaw dropped.

"Like-like?" He asked, ignoring how much he sounded like a little kid. There was a nod from the unusually silent boy across from him. Now, knowing that your arch-nemesis was gay _and_ was gay for you could make you slightly worried. No doubt Hayner was wracking his brain for any time Seifer might've shown affection for him. A small question whispered across the back of his mind, "How'd you find out?" A look of shame was on Hayner's face in an instant.

"I didn't mean to!" He half-grunted, half-wailed, a strange and priorly-believed impossible combination, "I heard Fuu say my name, confused, and then I turn around to see them talking in an alleyway and thought they were badmouthing me before Seifer goes...

_"You got a problem with that?" He looked annoyed as Hayner cautiously peered round the side of the brick wall, the other blond's back to him as Fuu stared up at him. Fuu shook her head, her second eye uncovered for just a moment._

_"Unexpected," she spoke in her weird way, the visible red eye narrowing as she seemingly considered something, "When?" The already agitated-looking blond didn't seem to appreciate her questioning as he growled, throwing out his arms as much as he could in the cramped alley._

_"Oh, I don't know Fuu, I got up November 19th and decided, 'Hey, I think I'll start crushing on the fucking chickenwuss today!'," the girl's eye narrowed again, this time in a warning glare at the sarcasm. She opened her mouth to say something else..._

...and that's when I decide I've heard _way_ too much and run away as fast as I can." The blond looked miserable and guilty about overhearing an obviously private conversation. "Rai wasn't even there, Rox," Hayner muttered to his best friend, "He doesn't want _anyone _to know!" Roxas looked over at his friend, slowly contemplating a plan.

"Well, he doesn't have to know that you know, does he?" He slowly suggested, still thinking things out as he spoke. He could see out of the corner of his eye Hayner was looking at him with hope in his eyes. "You can bend the truth, if you can ignore the fact that Seifer, er," he paused, gesturing, knowing that saying _that_ aloud would just be too weird, "but I think we'd better get Olette in on this, too." There was a moment of consideration from both blonds.

"Yeah," Hayner agreed, nodding his head, "She's better at this stuff than we are." His hand slowly made it's way back up to his hair, tugging gently as he thought it over.

"Yeah," Roxas muttered, neither boy looking at the other. Hopefully, all would turn out well, but Fate never did like any of them.

~.x.~

"...and, yeah, that's it." Hayner bit his lip, eyes flickering between Olette's eyes and the hands in his lap. Roxas inwardly sighed at the obvious sign of guilt. For someone so brash and hardheaded, the other usually never felt guilty for anything. This must have thrown him really off-key. Olette had a rare frown on her face, obviously thrown off herself, though when she suddenly stood up and harshly 'tapped' Hayner across the back of his head, Roxas backpedalled that thought immeadiately.

"Idiot!" She said, the slap-happy hand coming up to her chin as she thought contemplatively. Hayner gave her a scandalised look, hand slowly coming up to where she had slapped him, mouth open and eyes accusing. At his look, she rolled her eyes, and Roxas was very confused at her sudden behaviour change. What had happened to the nice, kind Olette and why was this alien pretending to be her?

"...why'd you hit me?" Hayner half-squeaked, easily voicing Roxas' train on thought in his four words. Olette, once again, rolled her eyes, looking fairly annoyed as her hands raised to rest on her hips.

"'Why'd I hit you?'" Olette quoted, a small frown on her face as a slight mocking tone entered her voice, "Oh, I don't know, Hayner! Maybe because you've just told someone's biggest secret to not one, but two people!" She scolded, biting down on her bottom lip in guilt. Roxas stared at her, incredulous. A glance at Hayner from the corner of his eye told him the other was doing the same, but mouth moving uselessly as he came up with an excuse.

"I needed help!" He exclaimed, arms flailing slightly in panic. Olette narrowed her eyes, but even Hayner, one of the less emotionally developed people Roxas knew, figured out this look meant speak fast or pay. "I didn't know what to do!" Olette shot him the same incredulous look that he had given her a minute ago, though this one was laced with anger and annoyance.

"'You didn't know what to do!'" She wailed, sarcastically, and Roxas edged slowly towards the entrance of the Usual Spot. Obviously, this conversation had struck a nerve with the brunette, and Hayner was just making it worse the more he spoke. Hayner narrowed his eyes at her, hands rolling into fists, and Roxas had the horrible feeling that Olette was very lucky she was female and Hayner had high morals. The dirty blond didn't have much patience for someone who was genuinely mocking him, friend or not.

"Not everyone's a genius at everything, Olette!" The male spat at her, eyes flaming, causing Roxas to edge that little bit faster. Hayner only used the girl's full name when he was annoyed, or worse. Olette seemed to ignore the sarcastic, veiled insult, merely throwing her response at him like a knife.

"Did it ever occur to you to act like normal around him, Hayner," she hissed, eyes only slits as she looked at him. Hayner look stunned at her answer, as if he had actually never considered that possibility - speaking of which, Roxas hadn't considered it either. He felt a little guilty for that, actually. However, Olette wasn't finished with her rant of guilt, adding, "Instead of, you know, telling everyone of his _secret_ feelings?" She looked positively livid at this moment, glaring down her nose at a shell-shocked Hayner, appearing to be ready to seriously hurt him.

"Whose secret feelings?" A familiar, confused voice came from behind the curtain, causing both Hayner and Roxas to flinch and jump. Roxas, who had reached the edge of the crate he had sat on, fell to the floor painfully, on just catching Hayner stepping on the back of his own shoe and sending his tumbling just as uncomfortably to the floor. Pence stepped through the curtain, his eyes worried (understandable given the noise, Roxas thought privately), flicking to his two friends on the floor and his one friend standing with her back to him. His brow furrowed in confusion and worry as he spoke, "What's going on, guys?" Neither Hayner nor Roxas had the chance to reply as Olette spun herself around, her temper seeming to have calmed a little.

"Nothing," she replied, shortly, before brushing past her brunet friend and out of the Usual Spot in a not-so-surprising speed. Pence only watched her with wide eyes as she left, only moving his eyes once the curtain had swept back, and even then it was only to his friends in shock.

"Aw, fuck," Hayner murmured, and Roxas wholeheartedly agreed with him.

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A/N: Hullo, lovelies~ This is the first chapter in my first proper multi-chapter, something that will probably span about three to five chapters, hopefully. This is easily the shortest chapter, the rest going to be about 5k a piece. Think of it as a prologue. This beaut is gonna be updated once a week, every Monday, God providing school don't eat me again.

Stick around, duckies, see how this plays out c:


	2. Thinking

**A/N** at bottom.

Disclaimer: **Disclaimed.**

Summary: Hayner stumbles across something he shouldn't, panics, and begins to pay for his idiocy, one karmic point at a time.

Warnings for chapter: Language, the gay, swears, one-sided Seifer/Hayner

Rating: T

Chapter: 2 / ?

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The streets of Twilight Town were awash with the common orange glow of the setting sun; the warm, homely colour the main reasoning behind the name of the usually peaceful town. Usually being the key word in this context, as a flock of birds flew off due to the sheer amount of noise being created from just off the Back Alley, behind a curtained off area.

"Please-"

"No!"

"I-"

"_No_!"

"Just-"

"_NO_!"

Olette and Hayner argued from one side of the usual spot, though Roxas wasn't sure how much of it counted as an argument as Olette was completely dominating the 'conversation', barely allowing Hayner one word before hissing at her friend. Pence shifted nervously from where he sat, next to Roxas, looking like he really wanted this argument to end. Roxas could relate.

"I'm sorry!" Hayner roared, managing to overpower Olette's interruption. The brunette's eyes flickered minutely for a moment and Roxas held his breath in hope for the end of the argument. His hope, unfortunately, was misplaced.

"Why are you apologising to me?" Olette cried out, her hands flinging to her sides in frustration. Hayner looked confused and shocked for a long second, annoyance quickly taking over his face as he began to come up with a reply. Roxas inwardly sighed, knowing that if Hayner replied with the tone of voice he looked like he was going to use, the sandy blond would be walking out of the Usual Spot with an extremely red cheek. Thankfully, Olette spoke again before Hayner had the chance. "I'm not the one who's secret you've been spreading around town!" She screeched, fury flooding her voice. Hayner's eye narrowed.

Almost absently, Roxas noticed that Pence shifted unconsciously as 'The Secret' was mentioned, the brunet having no knowledge of the discussion that had caused this fight due to his poor timing. Still, Pence had asked nothing of it, knowing that 'The Secret' had started the argument and didn't want to make it worse, and Roxas knew it wasn't his secret to tell. Inwardly, he was glad it was Pence who didn't know, because if it were either Hayner or himself that were left out of something this monumental, neither would be impressed.

"I needed help, Olette! You know, what friends are meant to give each other when confronted with _life-changing information_!" Roxas would have face-palmed if the situation wasn't so serious, due to the tone Hayner had used. Olette's eyes narrowed, fists clenching, and the tiny flash of fear in Hayner's eyes told Roxas that the situation was about to become astronomically out of hand if someone didn't step in. Roxas, however, wasn't fast enough to jump in.

"'_Life-changing information_'!" Olette howled, turning slightly and stalking around the room in frustration, her eyes never moving from Hayner once. "Your parents dying is _life-changing information_! Being adopted is _life-changing information_! Your arch-nemesis gaining a crush on you when he's so obviously gay is _not_**_ fucking_**_ life-changing information_!" She hissed and an instant silence fell over the little room. Olette never swore, _ever_. All three boys gaped at her, Hayner without the slightest sign of anger or annoyance. "So _don't_ apologise to me. If anything, you should be apologising to him."

After that, for the second time in as many days, the only female of the four stormed out of the Usual Spot. Pence shifted slightly in nervousness, something Roxas recognised as hesitance after nine years of friendship, before standing up and walking out after the girl, probably going to comfort her. Roxas stood slowly after the curtain fell, glancing at the distraught Hayner, sending him a look that clearly said; _'You're on your own.'_ Whilst Hayner didn't look happy, he seemed to understand as his eyes drifted to the floor and he stuck his hands in his pockets. Roxas nodded, once, before following after his two other friends.

~.x.~

_Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit._

I drag my feet as I walk, not bothering to raise my head from the dull view of harshly scuffed camouflage trainers and brick. A little bit of anger wells up in me as I think over my depression, but I push it aside, knowing that I deserved it, at least partially. No, I couldn't help that I overheard Seifer's... _thing_, and Roxas knew me ridiculously well, so I couldn't really hide anything, but it wasn't as if I tried to hide anything. I was shaken, yeah, but I could've hidden it for at least a day - I'm not _that_ stupid. And I guess asking Olette for help, therefore telling something else the _thing_, was pretty dumb, but she didn't have to blow up on me! I sigh lightly, not even having enough energy in me after that fight to get angry.

_Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit._

I glare down at my feet, as if they were the reason for my messy situation. I knew that the reason for my situation was my big fat mouth, but it wasn't as if I could glare at that without looking like a nutter as I walked down the streets. I try to ignore the guilty thoughts nagging at the back of mind for as long as possible, not quite ready to admit that this whole thing is my fault. Well, maybe not all my fault, but mostly my fault. But, again, how was I supposed to know that Olette would flip her lid at me? When did she start standing up for him, either? I know it's not my secret to tell, but she didn't need to go psycho! Probably her time of the month.

_Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit._

Besides, why did he have to go get a crush on me in the first place? It wasn't as if I asked for this! I don't want my enemy looking at my ass, or anything. Not that I'm a homophobe - because I'm not, it would be the same if he was female. I wouldn't want a girl I fought with (verbally only, though, if he was a girl) everyday just suddenly _wanting_ me. It would be weird, and creepy! I mean, it _is_ weird and creepy. How does someone change their mind about someone like that? It's just... strange. I accidentally kick a piece of metal as I walk, shaking my head at how confusing this stupid situation was. What'd I do to deserve this?

_Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiit. Scuffle. Shkiiiiiiii-_

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," a familiar, arrogant voice drawls from nearby, causing me to jump out of my skin as my brain instantly figures out who's talking to me. I look up, half in horror and half in hope (not that I'm not 100 percent sure who it is, because I am), my eyes seeing the one sight I don't want to see. "Looks like a little chicken got lost!" The bastard grins nastily at me, entire face smug, as usual. I don't know why I thought he was going to look different, but he doesn't, and I find myself scowling at him.

"Ha, little lost chickenwuss!" Rai chimes in, without his signature "y'know" for once in his life. I scowl deeper as Seifer's grin grows, feeling all the pent up anger and frustration I couldn't release when arguing with Olett-

_Holy crap, he has a crush on me!_ The thought comes unprompted into my head and my face drops from a scowl to pure horror, my first reaction to bolt only beaten by my pride at never running away from Seifer. While on a subconscious level, I knew that he had a crush on me, seeing him and being reminded of my argument with Olette just brought it right to the front of my mind, impossible to ignore.

"Yo, lamer," Seifer snaps his fingers at me, bringing me back into the world of the living with his brow furrowing, "you look like you've seen a ghost." _A gay, very-much-alive ghost that has a crush on me- _Shut up! I scream at myself, trying to ignore these very much unwanted thoughts. Seifer's eyes narrow a bit more, and he takes a step towards me. Again, only my pride keeps me from bolting.

"Maybe he's finally realised what's gonna happen to him if he doesn't run, y'know," Rai answers for me, and I inwardly scream as I lock up every thought about molestation that comes up from his words. Crush or not, Seifer was still Seifer and wouldn't act weird. _Please, please, please don't act weird_. I notice that Fuu is watching me, too, but with a gleam in her eyes that reminds me of Roxas when he's figured out a puzzle. I do **not** like that look directed at me.

"Perhaps," Fuu agrees in her loud tone that makes her sound as if she doesn't agree at all, nodding once in Rai's direction. Seifer takes another step forward, scowling now, and I slowly realise that I usually would've started throwing insults at them by now. I gulp slightly, and Seifer looks like he's had enough of hesitating, taking his normal long strides towards me instead of the baby steps he was taking before. Naturally, I clench my fists and narrow my eyes, ready for a fight.

"Scared, chickenwuss?" He taunts, and I grit my teeth, a thousand comebacks going through my mind. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not completely stupid, I just can't be bothered with school work. I can be smart when I want to be, and it's probably the only reason mine and Seifer's verbal fights last so long.

"Of you? Please. I've seen toddlers more menacing," I reply, watching as his eyes narrow and that annoying half-smirk finally drops off his face. I feel myself smirking instead. His strides quicken.

"At least I'm not the same height as those toddlers," he snarls, causing my smirk to drop as well. Why was it always the height jokes? I'm not even that short! Only smaller than him by a few inches, and he acts as if I'm four feet tall!

"I'm not short!" I bark before I can think, and I frown deeper at his smirk at my annoyance. I hate it that he gets amused by my anger. It's infuriating (and, yes, I realise how stupid that vicious circle is)!

"Don't look that way to me, chickenwuss," he drawls as he comes to a stop, not three feet away from me. A little red flag goes up in the back of my mind, but I'm too riled up right now to even think properly. "In fact," he adds, the smirk on his face growing, "it looks like you're very, very short." Then he looks right over my head. I see red.

"Bastard," I snap, only barely restraining myself from throwing the first punch. I never win when I do that. I win occasionally when he does, but I never, _ever _win when I do. After three losses in a row, I began learning from my mistakes. He smirks lazily _down _at me and I feel my fingernails bite into my palm as I fight the urge to punch his lights out. He opens his mouth again, no doubt to torment me again, but some_thing_ else interrupts him.

_When there's no one left to fight, boys like him don't shine so bright,_ I frown at the noise, fumbling in my pocket for the annoying little bane of my life. I don't use it for my friends because I plan to meet up with them while I'm school, so the only reason I have this is so my mother can constantly bother me when I'm not in the house. _Soon as I see the dust settle, he's out on the town tryin' to find trou-_, I take out the mobile, frowning and ignoring the little look of annoyance Seifer shoots me. It's not as if I wanted the phone to go off before I hurt him.

"Hello?" I ask, despite already knowing who was on the other side of the line.

"_Hayner!_" The woman cries, and I resist the urge to pull the phone away from my ear as I expect the upcoming rant, only so I don't look stupid in front of Seifer and his gang. "_What time do you call this? You promised to be back by five!_" I roll my eyes, pulling the phone away from my ear.

"Mum, relax," I reply, louder than normal because of how far the receiver was from my mouth, trying to make out what the little digits on my screen said, "It's only-" I stall as I realise that the little digits say 17:10, meaning I am going to be in big trouble when I get home.

"_Only what, Hayner?_" She says in the condescending voice that said she knew what I'm thinking and not-so-secretly calling me stupid.

"Uhh..." I pause, before sighing, knowing that there was no way to win, "I'll be there in ten."

"_You had better be, Hayner,_" she replies, not even giving me enough time to respond as she hung up. I frown at the phone for a second, shaking my head and stick it away. I glance up to see and infinitely amused Seifer staring me down.

"Gotta run to mummy?" He sneers, and as much as I'd like to, I don't respond, knowing that it usually takes fifteen minutes to get from the Sandlot to my house, so I had no time to spare. He smirks at me, deciding to take my silence as a victory, saying, "Later, lamer." He turns towards his lackeys and I scowl at his back, turning myself and sprinting off in the direction of my house, trying not to think of the creative punishments my mum was going to give me when I got there.

~.x.~

As Hayner sprinted out of the Sandlot, Seifer allowed himself a discrete, longing glance at the small male's back, knowing that the boy wouldn't turn around and catch him. Why would Hayner turn around? There obviously wasn't anything in the Sandlot that he cared about.

~.x.~

I knock loudly on the door to the place I call home, a quick glance at my phone telling me it was 17:19. I let a small sigh passed my lips, glad that my mum's rant would be lessened by the fact I hit my secondary curfew. But, seriously, how slow did I walk to the Sandlot? Or, better yet, how long did my argument with Olette last? I know when I entered the Usual Spot, I had an hour to spare. Time flies when you're screaming at your friend, I guess.

The muffled _tap tap tap_ of heels on hardwood from behind the door and the click of the lock bring me back to the world of the living. The doors opens, revealing the usually-pinched face of my mother. Strangely, and fortunately, she was smiling slightly. I blink several times at the unusual look on my mother's face, eyes glancing at the gate that led into our back garden. It was open.

"Your dad is home," she smiles wider as she says that and, with those words, all my stress from the day melts away.

"Sweet!" I shout, running passed the thin woman, turning as fast as possible into the living room. A head of unusually styled blond hair hangs over the back of the couch and I grin naturally. Silently (or near as damn it), I walk up to the couch, planning on scaring the old man.

"Hello, kiddo," he laughs, not even turning his head. I swear inwardly, annoyed that he could outwit me. Not that outwitting me was (usually) a difficult task, but my father was the person I got my brains from, so it was harder for him than the rest of the world. "Miss me?" He asks, turning around on the couch to face me, bringing his right arm up over the back. I smirk at him, seeing my expression mirrored on his face, though his looks ridiculously cooler due to the tattoo that covered pretty much the right hand side of his face.

Yeah, my father is badass. (Sometimes, I wonder how he ended up marrying my mother.)

"You're a weird kid, I hope you know that," he grins at me, eyes just staring at me. I grin back, giving him a small wave.

"Obviously," I smirk, "I'm your kid." He laughs at me, and I grin wider, slowly walking out of the room. I have a tonne of homework to do, an almost ridiculous amount, and I know that I'm not going to get any help off Olette any time soon, so I guess I had to get to work.

"Dinner's in thirty!" I hear called after me as I begin to walk up the stairs, and roll my eyes. My father had as bad a memory as me, so I know he only remembered because his stomach rumbled, or something as stupid as that. I still grin, though, before remembering, once again, the pile of work waiting for me. Right now I really wish I hadn't magically aggravated Olette - then I wouldn't have to worry about my homework, because she'd always give me a couple of minutes before class to copy it all out. She was nice like that. Well, mostly.

I sigh as I open my door, shaking my head at the dumb thoughts. It's not as if it's the first fight me and Olette have had - of course not, she can be just as arrogant and hard headed as me, although that side of her comes out less often then mine does. But this fight seemed different, somehow, I don't know how, but I have a feeling that I have a lot of work to do before she's going to let me off. Again, I wonder when she began sticking up for the asshat that is Seifer. Yes, yes, all my fault, shouldn't have starting blabbing, blah blah blah, but she blew up pretty damn quickly, and really violently. I've only ever seen her that mad once before, and that was hen someone said something about her 'sexual promiscuity', a.k.a her guts at hanging around three guys more than she hung around the females of our year.

My mind slowly wanders away from the argument and towards the reasoning for the argument, namely Seifer. I frown again, clenching my eyes and fists at the idea of him, never mind the idea that he had a crush on me. It's not _gross_, so to speak, but it was strange and really, really unwanted. I don't want a guy having a crush on me, not in the slightest. It's weird, unusual and I really, really hope to God this is some sort of plan concocted out of boredom to creep me out. But, deep down, I know that it can't be, because Seifer would've have been smug(er) when I saw him today. But he wasn't, just his usual old self.

I think about when exactly he could've started this kind of crush on me, not that I really want to know. It was just - well, he had a crush on me, and I found out yesterday. Even with that, I still didn't see anything different with him today, which means he's been acting like this since he got a crush on me. And I can't even remember anytime he had a huge personality change around me that made him into the smug bastard he is today. Which either means he has had this... _crush_ for a very long time (and I hope that this theory is wrong, because it means it's not something that fades with time, and that's not what I need at all) or that he didn't change towards me when he figured out he had a crush on me.

I flop onto my bed in the stupidity of thinking this over, because I really didn't want to figure out when exactly my arch-nemesis stopped seeing me as something to hurt and started seeing me as something I really don't want to think about. But at the same time, I can't stop myself thinking about it, because it's Seifer, and Seifer, the guy I've been beating and been beaten by since I was about a foot tall has feelings for me. Romantic feelings. Totally non-platonic, I-want-you feelings. It's really weird, because how can you get a crush on someone who punches you whenever you come within a foot of each other? Not to mention the fact that he's probably the last person I would have pegged for being gay. Not that I think that everyone who's gay conforms to a stereotype, it's just that he's not someone who you'd think was gay. He plays struggle (albeit, that means nothing, Setzer plays struggle), he does sports, he is the leader of the 'Disciplinary Committee' and he works like a lunatic at getting stronger so he can beat me up.

And he has a crush on me. Can't forget that, after all, it kind of confirms he's not as heterosexual as the rest of the universe believed. Believes. Oh God, I wish I hadn't overheard that conversation. Not for the first time, I sit up, hanging my head and resting it in my hands, trying to think over what I can do. I don't really know, but it's worth a try trying to think it over for the ninth time. It's not as if I have any other options; the last time I went to someone for help I nearly lost my eardrums. I don't even_ like _thinking things over, I'm more of a think as you work guy, but this situation is very, very different. And I hate that it's different. I hate that he's different, I hate that I can't even delude myself that I know what his reactions to things are going to be. Hell, if I couldn't even tell his orientation, how am I meant to know how he's going to react to new insults, or how I'm going to react to what he says.

I mean, I'm okay around him, as proved before, but only if _I don't remember_. And when I did remember, it was apparently really obvious. 'You look like you've seen a ghost', in-fucking-deed. I can't believe I got that horrified look on my face, though I don't blame myself. But, with that, how am I meant to act now? If that's how I act when I remember, and I don't think it's going to be possible to forget anymore, everyday is going to be like that from now on. And I may be stupid, but I'm not dumb enough to believe that Seifer won't notice the difference, never mind everyone else. I don't even want to think about what he'd do if he found out I accidentally overheard the conversation. Crush or no, Seifer is still Seifer and he would beat the ever loving shit out of me.

Though, even after I remembered, I reacted like normal because he pissed me off. So maybe if I'm constantly pissed off around him, it'll work. Not that this is a difficult thing, actually, it'd probably be easier than every other plan that I could come up with. I just need to think of things that make me angry when I'm around him, so I'll just start spitting insults if he tries to start anything. That'll work, and it'll also tell him there is no way in Hell that I would even consider- Well.

So, being angry all the time. Sounds like a stupid idea that Olette and Roxas will berate me for, with a side helping of extra verbal abuse, but it's not their problem. It's mine. And I'm dealing it the best way I know how; violently. I could deal with insults and punches, but crushes, especially from the last person on this plant I thought would even think about liking me in such a way, just confused me and made me irritated.

I could definitely deal with punches and kicks from Seifer, years of practise had honed my (quite literal) thick skin. Besides, if I just ignored the fact that he had a crush on me, I wouldn't mind too much if he got into my personal bubble. Within reason, of course, though I always smacked him around if he got too close. Unless it was a struggle, or a proper brawl (not one to vent steam, one where we actually wanted to hurt each other), then we- well, I, at least, lost all coherent thought and just attacked. Those were the fights where we ended up just trying to pin each other, attempting to thrown a punch or well-timed kneel in the mix. Being that close to someone made it really hard to get a hit in, and it didn't help that he had about four inches on me, so he always used that to his advantage, throwing his weight around to pin me. You wouldn't-

_Oh my god_, he used to pin me all the time. He_ still _pins me. He pins me and he has a crush on me and _holy shit_. He _pins_ me whilst crushing on me. That's just, just wrong and sick. I can't believe he's done that. Not that I know him or anything, the crush proves it, but still, I-

"Hayner?" A voice comes from the other side of my door before it opens. I look up just in time to see my father peering his head through, looking worried. "We've called you down for dinner three times but you didn't answer," he adds, before looking directly at me, or, more specifically, my face. There's a slightly awkward pause as he finishes, "Are you okay?" I muster up the biggest grin I can, trying to look cheerful for him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I reply, trying to fool him, but by the look on his face I gather I didn't. He frowns at me, shaking his head lightly, stepping into the room.

"Your face was - is, uh," he pauses, waving his hand in front of his face to gesture as he tries to think of the word, "Red." It's a lame finish, and obviously not the word he was going for, but it gets his point across. I feel my grin fall for a second, though I shake my head, pushing every thought that wasn't about food out of my mind.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm fine," I reassure, standing up off my bed, walking towards the door. He gives me a skeptical look that says he doesn't believe me, but nods anyway, moving away and down the hall. I let myself sigh, just a little, before following after.

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**A/N: **Hello lubdubs! Had a nice week? I hope so! Here's the second, very boring installment of Fortuitous, a filler chapter that isn't really a filler! Not quiet the five-kay I promised, but only about five hundred words off, so I hope you can forgive me. I only like one single part of this chapter, and that's the teen-tiny section with Seifer being sad. Everybody go 'Awwww'. :(

See you next week, kiddies! (Hopefully with a more entertaining chapter!)


	3. Nightmares and school

A/N at bottom.

Disclaimer: Disclaimed.

Summary: Hayner stumbles across something he shouldn't, panics, and begins to pay for his idiocy, one karmic point at a time.

Warnings for chapter: Language, the gay, swears, symbolic dream sequence, one-sided Seifer/Hayner

Rating: T

Chapter: 3 / ?

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I smiled. The Usual Spot. It was a calm, soothing place. But it felt different, somehow. Unusual. It took me a couple seconds to realise that the walls weren't made of brick, but instead stone and sand and cobbles. It was weird. My smile turned into a frown, but I just shook my head. I wanted to do something, complain that it looked wrong. So I did.

"You look weird," I said to the walls, but my words slurred, my tongue thick, unusable. A hiss was my reply, and I nodded at the walls, glad they had replied. Then I realised. Walls didn't hiss. They meowed. I turned my head, looking around the non-brick room, until I saw the thing that had hissed. A snake. It was huge - an anaconda. I had only seen one before, and that was locked inside a glass cage when a man came to the school with his animals. But this one was bigger than the other snake. It's head the same size as mine. It stared at me for another second, before hissing. I nodded at him, like I had the walls. Then I turned and ran.

I ran out of the usual spot, running and running and running, through the sandlot, where Seifer and his goons weren't, through the alleyways and the small passages. I couldn't hear the snake moving, but I heard it's hissing, and it didn't sound like it was getting any further away. It didn't sound like it was getting any closer, either, so I took that as a good sign, and ran. Faster. Faster. I almost ran right past the crack in the wall that led to the forest that led to the mansion, but I thought about it - really long, despite the fact that I was almost running past the gap - and decided that it would be smart to go through there. I didn't know why. It just felt right.

The hissing wasn't getting further away at all, instead it sounded as if it was getting closer. And that wasn't good. I pushed myself further, faster, not even yet feeling tired. (I guess that was a bit weird, but maybe I had added too much sugar to my breakfast, or something.) I ran towards where the entrance of the mansion was, the edge of the forest, and the hissing began getting further away. I grinned, happy, closing my eyes as I ran just that little bit faster. It felt nice, even though there was no breeze today.

And then I ran into a tree.

It didn't really hurt, exactly. I knew I ran into it, and I rebounded onto the floor, but it was more because of the pressure, not pain. I rubbed my nose anyway. I cracked open my eyes, looking at the tree with interest. It was like the tree I used to have in my back garden when I was little. A hawthorn. But it was - weird. I opened my eyes wider, noting vaguely that the tree was not just a tree, but half a tree. It looked as if someone had taken a giant axe and chopped it cleanly - perfectly - in half. Woah. I looked up at the top, seeing a leaf chopped at the top, as well. It was awesome.

Then the tree snored, making me jump and fall on my butt. I glared at the tree. That was uncool, making me jump like that. But the tree was asleep, so it couldn't've been expected to warn me, so I forgave it. I heard it snore again, the noise coming from the base of the trunk. I smiled lazily at it, weirdly happy that the tree was at peace and asleep. I moved closer to it, to see it's completely flat side, only to see that someone was on the other side of the tree. A snore sounded again, and I realised dully that it wasn't the tree snoring, but the person. How silly of me to think that a tree would sleep in the middle of the day - although the person didn't seem to have a problem with the same thing.

I crawled closer to the person, hearing another loud snore, moving sneakily towards my 'prey'. I had a weird - urge, I guess, to giggle, but I didn't, just in case I woke the person up. They were probably tired, sleeping in the middle of the day. I moved sluggishly towards her, him, it, whatever, until I was kneeling next to them, hovering over their almost-still form. They looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't quite make out who it was. The clothes, body, everything was familiar, but it was like my mind had given itself a five minute break. There was an annoying hat thing in my way of seeing their - his, actually, looking at his body. Anyways, the hat was stopping me from seeing his face, and I figured that I would know who it was if I moved the hat. A small voice screamed BEANIE at the back of my mind, but I didn't understand what beans had to do with the current situation so I ignored it.

As I tugged the hat upwards, another snore came from the boy-or-man's throat, and the urge to giggle came back. I didn't, though, because it was girly, but I still wanted to. I managed to get the hat off the person, revealing his face and hair. I sat there for a second, frowning in confusion. The face was blurry, pixelated, like a picture too far zoomed in. I squinted, trying to see it properly, before realising I was going to have to move either further away or closer to hopefully see it better. I considered moving far away, but knew that I probably would be too lazy and get distracted by something else.

So, I leaned in closer, still squinting to see his face properly. Little, weird details came into view before his whole face, reminding me of the time I tried to look at the really, really huge picture and it unpixelised on bit at a time. First were golden eye lashes that looked fake because they were really long, followed by a snore and then almost invisible freckles on tanned cheeks. Next, dark blond eyebrows and a nasty, puckered scar between them, small lines visible from where stitches were put in. Well, that looked painful. Another snore. Chapped lips, boring, surrounded by the palest hair slash fuzz ever. Maize coloured hair, stupidly fine and soft looking, although it was hat hair because of the hat.

The face wasn't pixelised, not anymore, so I moved my head back to see it in full. Before I could go far back to make out who it was I was staring at, his, whoever it was, hand shot out, grabbing onto my shoulder. I frowned, staying still, wondering if the arm had become sentient all by itself or if the person it belonged to had woken up. Two eyes, the colour of sea-salt ice-cream, flickered open, looking straight at me.

"Hayner," he growled, and I froze. It was Seifer.

I jolted upwards in my bed, panting heavily. I shook my head, trying to clear it of all the thoughts plaguing me. I was feeling cold, shaky and horribly clammy despite the fact that there was nothing to make me feel this way - this scared. But I was this scared, and I could feel my muscles shake minutely not matter how hard I strained to keep them under control. They were tense from my dream, but how did that make sense? It wasn't a nightmare, not even close, and there wasn't anything scary in it. Unless you counted Seifer's ugly mug, but that was hardly enough to cause me nightmares.

Or was it? I mean, obviously, I'm not saying Seifer is truly terrifying enough to give me nightmares, but maybe the entire... thing with Seifer was stressing me out, especially the stuff with Olette, so maybe that's what caused my 'nightmare'. Not that I see why I woke up, stressing like I'd just had a dream like Jack the Ripper was after me, but still.

That wasn't the only weird thing, though. The entire dream was fresh in my head, but the part where I was staring at Seifer's face, not knowing it was Seifer, was creepy. Not the part that it was Seifer, but the fact it was Seifer and I knew what he looked like that close up. I mean, how weird is that? I shouldn't know what he looked like that close. I can understand that I learnt from brawls and struggles that got a bit too hand-to-hand, but, I mean, memorising it? Knowing what it looked like so well that I had it down in a dream? If someone had told me they were able to do that about someone, and they weren't particularly close to them, I'd've thought they were... a stalker, or something!

And I know that he has stitches in his scar? What? How do I know that? I don't stare at his face, especially not his scar! Maybe I knew it from some distant, almost forgotten memory. I swallowed hard, clenching my fists tightly in the darkness. Stupid Seifer and his stupid feelings, giving me this stupid nightmare which wasn't even a damn nightmare! I huffed, lying back down on my bed purposefully with every intention of getting back to sleep. I didn't bother looking at my alarm clock, knowing that whatever number was shown there would only irritate me. Stuffing my face into my pillow, I decided that I was going to ignore Seifer completely tomorrow, despite my earlier choices. If I didn't acknowledge he existed, maybe my mind wouldn't either, and these stupid dreams would go away.

~.x.~

It was 8:20 in the morning, and the Usual Gang's table grew silent as Hayner walked towards it. Pence looked downright nervous as the sandy blond drew closer, but Roxas merely looked cool and composed, as usual, and Olette refused to look at the third boy. Hayner would've frowned if it weren't for the fact that he totally, one hundred percent deserved it off her. However, it did cause a problem of whether or not to sit down, and whether or not he was allowed to sit down. The idea of being rejected by his three closest friends stung, but he brushed it off.

"Hey," he tried to grin as he talked to them, though it faded a little as he got no other response than both Pence's and Roxas' eyes focusing solely on him, "Am I allowed to sit here?" It was meant to sound jokey, lighthearted even, but it came off as tense and as if he were asking for actual permission. Which he was, granted, but that was besides the point. He still wanted to keep some of his dignity, but that didn't seem to be happening.

"Yeah," Roxas answered after a long pause that almost caused Hayner to turn and walk away, and the sandy blond couldn't quite help the relaxed slump of his shoulders at the affirmation. It would've really, really hurt if the answer had been 'no'.

"So, what you guys up to?" Hayner began to make small talk, something that he really wasn't good at, considering Pence and Olette were normally the ones who would chat away, bringing Hayner and Roxas into the conversation. It felt weird to be making all the effort for once, and very uncomfortable. Still, he wasn't going to just sit down on the table and then sit in an awkward silence. Thankfully, Pence came to his rescue with an only slightly tense smile.

"Roxas and me," he glanced subconsciously at Olette, who was scarily quiet, "Er, I, were just finishing off the homework Mr. Izatt gave us on Wednesday, last week." He grinned happily, pulling up the sheet he was working on the table up slightly, but Hayner only groaned in response.

"Oh damn," he replied, slamming his head on the table. He had planned to do it last night, almost making it before he had gotten distracted by the wonders of the Internet and promptly forgetting all about it. With his luck currently, he would be lucky if he remembered to pack it today at all. "I forget it. All the stress." He complained, though he was careful to watch Olette in case she lost her temper. It was bad enough to argue with her, but arguing in front of her in front of half the school was something he'd rather avoid.

"Aww, man," Pence sympathised, pushing his sheet towards his blond friend, "Here, copy mine." Hayner took one look at the slight smile and felt guilty. Pence actually had to work for the answers, unlike Olette and himself (he copied off his friends), so it didn't feel right to steal off him, despite Mr. Izatt's temper.

"Nah, it's okay," he shrugged it off, watching both Roxas' and Pence's expressions become completely shocked. He guessed that Olette's expression was shocked, too, if only by the little movement of her jaw, but he couldn't be completely sure, "I'll do it at break." He finished, shaking his head like saying something completely out of character was nothing.

"Dude, are you sure?" Roxas asked, catching Hayner off guard for a second, but he shrugged again.

"Yeah, I mean," he shook his head (once again) at the timing of his next statement, that it had to be when he wasn't friends with Olette, "I've got to start pulling my own weight someone, don't I?" Pence looked ready to reply, but didn't, and Roxas began glaring. Both were no longer looking at him, but behind him, and just before Hayner asked what they were looking at, a voice came from behind him.

"Well, well, little 'wuss is finally growing up," it was a drawl, accompanied by a short, feminine bark of laughter and a snort. Hayner turned around, eyes already blazing, knowing exactly who it was.

"What do you want, Seifer?" Roxas said before Hayner could manage, and Hayner found his fist clenching in agreement of the statement. He couldn't be bothered with Seifer at that moment in time, especially with Olette still being ridiculously silent and it was really, really beginning to creep Hayner out.

"Was I talking to you, Lamer Two?" Seifer responded, not looking away from the angry Hayner who was trying to stare him down.

"I wouldn't know," Roxas snarled, his temper going off almost immediately, cluing Hayner in that Roxas was not happy with the current state of his friends, therefore more likely to get annoyed easily, "You're not very specific with your insults." The words were true and spiteful, and Hayner found himself getting angrier due to the anger in Roxas' voice.

"Well, I wasn't," Seifer dismissed the other blond, still not having looked at him. Despite his anger, Hayner felt distinctly uncomfortable with having Seifer' full attention. Not that it was a new thing, no, because Seifer always looked just at Hayner in an argument, only rarely looking at Roxas, and never looking at Pence or Olette. But when Hayner knew that Seifer had a crush on him, it was just discomforting, nothing else.

"Okay, what do you want?" Hayner found himself saying, the words growling out of his throat. The idea of Seifer being around him was weird, and Hayner hated weird things so much, so it just made him angrier. Seifer seemed to pick up on his spike of anger as his smirk grew, and not for the first time Hayner was wondering how sadistic this guy was if Hayner was the one he had a crush on.

"What could I possibly want from you, 'wuss?" He asked, and whilst the tone was meant to make the statement complete derogatory and cruel, the sandy blond couldn't hep but blanch at the words and the thoughts of 'yeah, what could you want' filling his head. At the slight cough from behind him, he knew that Roxas was following the same disturbing trail of thought.

"Just get on with it, Almasy," Hayner growled again, shaking his head to clear it of the thoughts he really didn't want in his head. Seifer smirked again, thought there was a glint in his eye that he didn't like. Fuu was watching him strangely again, too, and Hayner was beginning to feel like a frog on a dissection table. It was weird, unwanted, and severely creepy. Almost as creepy as Olette being quiet.

"Get on with what?" The elder blond smirked, his hands coming up to his hips in a taunting gesture. Hayner blanched at this, inwardly wondering how he could have possibly missed that Seifer was gay. Gay for you, a voice whispered inside his head, and Hayner barely restrained himself from grabbing his head in frustration. The thoughts were unwanted, and it was worse when Seifer was right there in front of him. Hayner wasn't sure what was worse, Seifer being gay for him or Seifer being gay for him. He didn't even want to think about it, but still.

"Why don't you just go away?" Pence said, coming to Hayner's thinking rescue and snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," both Hayner and Roxas agreed at the same time, probably both snapping out of highly disturbing thoughts. A small grin tugged itself on Hayner's face when that happened, causing him to laugh a little. But only on the inside. He didn't want Seifer losing his temper and starting a fight in the middle of the cafeteria, especially not in front of Olette.

"Because maybe I don't want to?" Seifer replied, though the question sounded much more like a statement then anything else. Hayner thought he was just being a jackass, but that was Seifer normally.

"Don't you have anything better to do, Seifer?" Hayner asked, his fists relaxed now that Seifer was on the defensive. It was easier to relax when you weren't being bombarded with questions or taunts. It was nice, more so when it was flipped and Seifer was the one in trouble.

"Obviously," Seifer hissed, "But I thought I'd come to get in my daily dose of amusement from you lamers." He frowned, glaring hard at Hayner, before turning away. Hayner swore he heard something like, "It's no fun when he's not angry," come from where Seifer was standing, but with the taller blonde's brisk pace he had no time to question or even think about it before Seifer was out of his line of sight.

"What was that about? Pence asked, almost silently to himself, as Hayner turned around, causing the sandy blond to shake his head at his friend.

"Who knows? It's Seifer we're talking about here," Hayner replied, shrugging slightly, yet secretly glad at the now-laid back atmosphere that was created by Seifer's arrival and departing. Roxas gave him a strange look as he finished, "No one knows what's going on in that head of his." Pence smiled.

"Too right," he hummed, before adding, "Not that anyone would want to know what he was thinking of." He laughed, prompting both Roxas and Hayner to join in with the lighthearted chuckles. Hayner wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but Olette's shoulders seemed to untense at the gentle atmosphere, causing him to relax along with her. Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought.

~.x.~

"And, where, pray tell, is your homework, Mr. Dincht?" Mr. Izzat asked me in his slimy voice as I attempted to look bored. As I had guessed that morning, luck was not on my side and I had completely forgotten to bring the homework sheet to school, meaning I was unable to do it at break. My entire noble change-of-heart was put to waste because, even if I had wanted to, I couldn't cheat off Pence. I shrugged in reply to him.

"The last name is Trepe, sir," I added, not even thinking properly. There were a hundred things I would rather have been doing, especially with Mr. Creep-tastic, my stupid science teacher, glaring me down and trying to freeze me with his thoughts.

"I could care less," he spat in reply, and I rolled my eyes as discreetly as possible. He moved away from me, moving onto the next table, of which all the students had 'forgotten' to do their homework. The scowl on his wrinkled face was not only visible by then, but also well-heard and you would probably be able to smell it if you tried hard enough.

Predictably, as all awful teachers do when their students show how interested they are in the lesson, he went up to the front of the class and began to rant. I took this as my queue to nap. Of course, with all the stress of the prior days, my mind had other ideas, and wandered back to a subject never far from my mind recently - Seifer, and his feelings. (A small part of me always scoffed at the idea of that douche having any other feelings than narcissism.)

Well, the 'I'm going to ignore him' thing failed dramatically, especially after this morning. I suppose the mini-argument we had at break didn't help any, but still. And Olette still wasn't speaking to me, so it wasn't as if I could get any advice off of her. I was at loss of where to go with this. I didn't know who I could go to ask about something with this, because both Pence and Roxas were playing referee and I didn't want them to get in trouble with Olette, too. And I had no idea myself what to do, because my ignoring plan failed dramatically.

Now that I think about it, Seifer always seems to be around. Not that this helps my psyche any, not now, but he does. I guess back before I knew, I figured it was just his bully tendencies to focus on one person and one alone, or at last one group, which made him always around me. But now that I know, maybe he was targeting me for an entirely different reason.

This, of course, puts me on a disturbing thought track of is he just trying to get my attention? What a horribly pre-school way of trying to get your crush's attention! It's like, pulling my pigtails or something. Although that's a crap analogy because I would never be the girl in a relationship, even with Seifer. In fact- I pause my thoughts to grab my head. I'm not gay; no relationships with men, so there is no chance of me being female. Especially not with Seifer.

All this gay stuff has gone to my head, I groan, only to feel a tap on my shoulder. I lift my head out from underneath my arms to see Pence looking at me worriedly.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and I manage a half-hearted smile at him, though from his eyes he doesn't buy it. Fuck.

"Just a headache," I lie, and watch him nod his head hesitantly, like he doesn't want to believe me, but has no proof otherwise. Good old pence, just the guy I need to talk to to lift my spirits a little. I decide to think of something non-disturbing, so I turn my thoughts to my favourite thing ever; Struggling.

The fortnightly tournament was coming up this Sunday and I couldn't wait. I hadn't been practicing as much usual, but this time I was determined to come first and beat both Setzer and S- not thinking about it. I guess I should get some practise in with Roxas after school, which hopefully he would be able to agree with without angering Olette.

Speaking (or thinking) of Olette, I had to think of how I was going to make it up to her about the thing that I was in no way thinking about. She's not usually a vengeful person, but she has gone mad a couple of times and those poor, unfortunate people who had ignited her temper had suffered. A small part of me at the back of my mind whimpered at the fact I was now one of those people. This could, and would, only spell pain and destruction for me be-

"Mr. Trepe!" Mr. Izzat hisses in his creepy old man voice, slamming a text book in front of me. I jump up like a shot, grabbing my chest. That didn't give me a heart attack or anything. Not at all. Wasn't scared in the slightest. "I would suggest you concentrate in lessons from now on, unless you want your grades to get worse?" He sneers at me, "Not that that would be easy, considering how dismal your grades are already." I scowl right back at him, watching him creep off. That man does my head in.

"Dude, are you okay?" Pence asks me once the dickweed is suitably out of range. I nod lightly at him.

"Only a minor heart attack," I say sarcastically, and he smiles a little at me, shaking his head.

"That's not what I meant," he laughs at little, crossing his arms on the desk over a completed sheet of work I hadn't even realised we'd been given, "I mean, you've been pretty out of it lately." I shrug in reply, knowing he kind of knew what was going on from the argument with Olette yesterday (and the way she blurted everything out, yeesh), but I still didn't want to talk about it.

"Nah, I'm good, just been thinking," I grin at him, watching him grin back before adding, "Kinda hurts, so that explains why I've been out of it!" We both laugh lightly, though I watch as creepy comes back into the room from his little store cupboard and gives us the evil eye.

"Thinking the cause of your headache?" He asks, and I almost forget my earlier excuse for clutching my head.

"Yeah, yeah," I shake my head, "'S also the smell of burning rubber the air seems to have today." I laugh, and he chuckles a bit louder. Creepy looks at us again, but I ignore it.

"I thought that was just Mr. Izzat," he replies, deadpan, and I snort, covering my mouth and nose at that, elbowing the brunet in the side for making me laugh so loudly. He grins a little, then turns to go back over his work and see if he missed anything out. I smile a little as I feel more lighthearted. That was fun, and I didn't even get a detention!

Maybe my situation isn't as bad as what I thought after all.

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A/N: Yo, lovelies! Uh... been a while, hasn't it? (whimpers) Please don't hurt me! I've been very busy lately, firstly Prom, then exams (lots and lots of exams x.x) all of which were stupidly hard, then after that (and when I say after I mean the day after my last exam) I was whisked away on holiday until... Tuesday. Oh, and my birthday. So you guys still love me, right?

...right?

Anyways, this was more of a filler chapter (again), 'though, if you look carefully (and I know some of you will have spotted them the first time round), there are a couple of things that show that the plot's moving. :3 I will see you, hopefully, on Monday!


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